Abdo up against plea deadline Tuesday

FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAN) - Tuesday is the deadline for a soldier accused of planning on attack on Fort Hood soldiers to make a plea deal with lawyers.

It appears a deal is in the works for Naser Abdo, since an earlier deadline for a plea deal had been delayed.

Abdo has been behind bars since police arrested him in Killeen near Fort Hood on July 27.

A gun store clerk alerted police to his suspicious behavior after the 21-year-old bought ingredients for an explosive device.

The gun store was the same place police said Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan visited before going on a shooting rampage on the military post.

Maj. Nidal Hasan

Hasan is the man charged in the deadly November 2009 attack, charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

Hasan's lead attorney, John Galligan, stepped down July 20 from the case temporarily, the same day a trial date was set for March 5.

Galligan's announcement came shortly before Hasan's first court appearance since it was announced he would face the death penalty.